@geo even though that isn't my own picture, my wife has come back from rides with tires that look like that (she has 26" cruiser tires). The really scary part are the thorns where the body breaks off - you have to pry the rest of the thorn out with the tip of a knife blade.
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Jared HarleyAug 25 '10 at 20:05

Marathon plus tyres are amazing. I got one puncture ever (in 10 years) using them and that was when a huge nail managed to puncture through the side of the tyre, thus avoiding the protection.
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icc97Aug 27 '11 at 12:45

Just about any tire is going to be vulnerable to punctures especially as they age/wear. I've found the Continental Gatorskin tires to be effective and I match them with Mr. Tuffy tire inserts. As long as I check the tires for embedded thorns/glass every few weeks, I can go a few thousand road miles or more without a flat.

The downside of using inserts and thicker tires is the weight increase. To me, this is negligible and well worth the decrease in flats.

I've had tubes with Slime before and didn't care for it. Spits green goop at you sometimes when pumping in air. Some people say they notice differences in how the tires behave when they have Slime, too.
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freiheit♦Aug 28 '10 at 3:47

On my touring bike I have ridden over 25,000 miles of commuting, training, and touring, with seldom a puncture. I have used Continental Top Touring 2000 tyres, and more recently Vittoria Randonneur City tyres, both in 28mm width, and I find their puncture resistance excellent.

I buy the puncture-resistant tubes and don't have any flats. They're the same price as regular tubes and work as well with regular tires as regular tubes with gator skins or the other puncture resistant tires. This is a cheaper, and in my opinion, better way to go. The other advantage with buying a tougher tube vs. a tougher tire is you can still ride a supple tire. The gator skins or armadillos are really hard and don't provide as good a ride.

We recently had an horrendous experience with goatheads. Naive perhaps but took to a country area that had flooding. The local bike shop installed thorn resistent tubes (yeah think ones) plus some "green slime" that was silsicon based that would autoseal any puctures. Our tyres look exactly as per the image and we needed pliers to remove the thorns. Took the bikes out again in the same area (whole region covered post floods) and was able to remove the goatheads manually from the tyres and the pressue was maintained - even 4 weeks later. Original tubes defalted after one hour of ride. Cost me $25 a tyre including fitting (on holiday so no options).
Oh and we had mountain bikes, but the bike shop chap assured me that the "slime" was good for all tyres. You can't prevent the puncture so much as prevent the resultant air leakage.

I seriously contemplated a pair for a while, but never worked up the courage. I held a pair at a bike show, and would say, not so heavy. But then I weigh a lot, and am not a freak about minimizing weight on the bike.
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geoffcAug 25 '10 at 20:16

1

I tried some solid core tires years ago and had a problem with them rolling off the rim in turns--it was pretty disconcerting. Is that still a problem or has it been taken care of? Or was I just trying to ride them too aggressively?
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Tommy WilliamsAug 25 '10 at 20:56

I've had a pair - and they're horrendous. The problem that they will always have is that, even if they feel as soft as real tyres, the air cannot be displaced to other areas of the tyre and so they don't deform anywhere near as much as even a high pressure tyre. This gives worse traction, a harder ride and more bent rims.
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WillSep 23 '10 at 17:40

I rode 5,000+ miles this summer (bike centennial route from VA to OR) with no flats on one pair of Vittoria Randonneur (700 x 28) tires. Very impressed and the front tire still looks brand new. I'll probably replace the rear tire pretty soon, but it was a trooper too (all of the weight for my touring bike was on the rear wheel)!

An alternative that I've found works reasonably well on the cheap is to put the punctured tube inside the tire and then inflate the new tube under that (so you end up with the tire, two layers of thinner rubber from the flat tube, and then the inflated tube, then the rim)

Gives an extra layer of protection stopping the thorn from penetrating the inner tube.

It also happens to be a whole lot cheaper then most other solutions (you've already paid for it) and without the problems of something like gel.

Mr. Tuffy Tire liners do basically the same thing, only provide much better protection, and cost about the same as a couple of tubes. Sure you may have a couple of punctured tubes sitting around, making it essentially free, but tire liners are much easier to get in place. mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Cycling/TiresTubesWheels/Tubes/PRD~4001-642/…
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KibbeeAug 29 '11 at 20:53

@Kibbee: That is true, but as I said, it's an "on the cheap" solution using something that you already have if you've hit a patch of those thorns.
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TrezoidAug 30 '11 at 2:37

I rode a bike in Bullhead City, Arizona (named after the tremendous amount of goatheads) for about four and a half months. I pulled at least that many out of my tires every day or every other day. Liquid sealants like Slime or similar were the more affordable, but more tedious, solution. Still, it was a lifesaver when I was miles away from water sources.